In the Manger by Max Lucado is a set of 25 excerpts from Max’s books that form a set of readings for use during the 25 days leading up to Christmas. Each reading includes a Bible verse and a selection from one of Max’s books and focuses on an aspect of Jesus. Each day ends with a short prayer to help the reader focus on God becoming man, celebrating the miracle of Jesus coming into the world as a man.

Max Lucado writes in an easy to understand set of stories. If you’ve read his works in the past, these will be familiar to you. If you haven’t and are looking for a short devotional to help you focus on the Christ of Christmas, this set of readings is not a bad one to get you started. I appreciated Max’s speculations on what the prayers of Mary and Joseph might have been for this little baby destined for things beyond what they can understand, though he does show some of what we know will come that Mary and Joseph likely didn’t.

I can appreciate this set of readings in preparation for Christmas. The short stories and thoughts are just deep enough to give us something to ponder but are easy enough for a child to read along with the family. As these are stories and thoughts from Max Lucado, I’d caution the reader to not treat them as what actually happened, but as one author’s take on the way people could respond to the way God chose to send a baby into the world as part of His plan. Max ends with a prayer that we see Jesus the way Thomas did, proclaiming, “My Lord and my God.” With that end in mind, Max does a good job helping us to take our thoughts off of the typical busy-ness and distractions of the season and reminding us of the wonders of Christmas.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a preview copy of this book by the publisher with no expectations. This review was not influenced by the publisher in any way.